


Day 11: Snow

by Magpie_Crow



Series: Inktober 2019 [11]
Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Here's Your Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Small fight, Tears, lil bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-11-28 18:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20970827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magpie_Crow/pseuds/Magpie_Crow
Summary: Patton held out his hands, and to Emile, that was answer enough.





	Day 11: Snow

**Author's Note:**

> And here's the happy ending, folks! Make sure you thank my friend A. in the comments, because she's the only reason this part happened.  
I was going to leave Part 1 and 2 alone and make it open ended/ambiguous. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Emile watched Patton as he told his tale. The boy he had been in love with was a man now, a little softer and a lot older. 

“Em, do you remember that day on the swings?” 

Emile scoffed. “How could I forget?”

“I’ve regretted it every day since.”

“Regretted what?”

Patton ran a shaking hand through his riot of curls. Emile remembered when Pat always wore a beanie because he couldn’t stand how curly his hair was. 

“Not answering you that day. I didn’t know- I couldn’t have known, about the tumor, but. It probably would have saved us both a lot of pain if I’d disregarded you telling me not to answer.” A slight turn of his wrist made Emile’s face grow pale at the sight of thin white lines running across it. 

“Dad went to the park to look for you after the worst of the surgery was over. You weren’t there so…” Patton paused, “So he called Dot and Larry. They were so worried, Em! You had just left, no explanation, no way to reach you- Dot- They wanted to _adopt_ you, and you were. You were gone.” 

Emile could tell Patton was getting worked up, and started to open his mouth to calm him when he continued.

“They were heartbroken, Em! Six years with them and then you were gone without a backwards glance and they thought you didn’t care!” He stood, looking straight at Emile even though he couldn’t see him. “I thought you trusted me enough to know that I wouldn’t _do_ something like that to you!” 

Patton sat back down with a sigh and buried his face in his hands. “I thought- I thought you _loved_ me, Em.” His voice was quiet and teary. “I wish I didn’t know why you left, Em, but if you left because of me, why the _hell_ did you come back?”

“I made assumptions. Like Sokka in Avatar: The Last-“

Patton’s head shot back up, his voice cutting through the room. “Don’t you _dare_ quote cartoons at me, Emile! Does this seem like the time?” He gestured wildly to the room at large. “Does this seem like the place? I’m _furious_ at you right now! I don’t care what Sokka did! I want to know what _you_ did! I thought you were _dead_!”

He was yelling again, and Emile found himself watching in abject horror as tears began making their way down Patton’s freckled cheeks. 

“Dead, overseas, with no-one to send you home to because you didn’t tell anyone _anything_! I _loved_ you, Em! I loved you more than I loved anything else in my life and you were _gone_.”

“Patty- Patton, I’m _sorry_.” Patton stopped still when Emile spoke. “I _swear_, Patty, if I could do it over again, I would. I made an assumption that I shouldn’t have made, and I hurt both of us in the process.” Emile stood and moved around his desk so there wasn’t anything in between him and Patton. “Patty, can I touch you? I just want to take your hands, like that year we had a picnic on your birthday?”

Patton held out his hands, and to Emile, that was answer enough. He held one of Patton’s tear-damp hands in each of his, and gently pulled him to his feet. “Patty, I’d like to hug you now. Is that okay?”

With an aborted sob, Patton stumbled into Emile’s arms. Emile held him tight, just like he used to, burying his face in Patton’s mop of hair and inhaling the unique scent of PattonPattonPatton. “Kyoshi, Patton, I missed you.”

~~

“Can I drive you home?” 

Patton shook his head, but didn’t take his hand from the crook of Emile’s arm as they stepped out of the office building. “No, thank you. Logan and the twins are waiting for me at the coffee shop on the corner.”

“Storm’s Tea-licious, right? I don’t remember it being there before, is it new?” He began guiding his friend in the right direction.

Patton laughed, the tremulous ghost of tears still in his voice. “Yeah… Um, Virgil, the guy in the picture I showed you yesterday? He owns it.” 

Emile felt something pinch in his gut and stopped walking. “Oh. Are you- Are the two of you- You know…” 

“Together? No.” Patton pulled a bit on Emile’s arm to get him moving again. “Virgil’s the reason Logan moved down here, you know? He says it’s for the boys, but he spends as much free-time with Virge as he can.”

“Oh. And Virgil is...”

“Dot and Larry signed the adoption papers as soon as he put his bags down.” Patton flushed. “Not that they were using him as a replacement for you! Never! They just. They didn’t want him to age out of the system without realizing he was loved and they thought that might have been what happened to you and I’m going to stop now because I might be digging myself a deeper hole.” 

The color of Patton’s face rivaled the jacket of the little boy Emile could see watching them from the café window. Ten years of heartache unraveled and slipped away as Emile started laughing, his first honest laugh in a very long time.

Patton stood, stunned for a moment, and then joined in, his hand slipping down Emile’s arm so their fingers tangled together in a way that made Emile feel a thrill run up his spine. 

The door of the coffee shop opened and the boys tumbled out into the chilled evening air, shoving each other playfully in order to reach the laughing duo first. 

“Daddy, daddy! Feel!” The twin in green grabbed Patton’s other hand and held it out, palm upward. 

Emile watched in delight as the first flakes of the season landed on Patton’s palm, which was still shaking with laughter, and melted in his warmth. Emile fancied that he was melting a bit, too.

“Daddy, its snow!”

**Author's Note:**

> That's all, folks! 
> 
> The author is now very lonely, and very gay. Please give me cuddles.
> 
> I set up a Discord server! <https://discord.gg/gtWgvQ4>  
Join me to talk about my writing and stuff!
> 
> Find more on tumblr @we-are-fam-ily


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